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Monday, October 16, 2017

Canon, the ace player in global imaging
industry showcased its varied range of products at the Broadcast India Show from
October 12-14, 2017. Organized at Bombay Exhibition Centre,
Goregaon – Mumbai, this show has become a coveted platform for the Television,
Film and Infotainment industry in India.

The stall was inaugurated by
Kazutada Kobayashi – President & CEO, Canon India. The attraction of
the stall was the latest flagship main stream Cinema EOS camera C700 for motion
picture industry and Cinema EOS C200, a revolutionary video camera with inbuilt
4K Raw and high frame rate capabilities. In the professional video cameras
range it was XA 11, which is the newly launched model.

Commenting on Canon’s participation in
the Broadcast Show, Kazutada Kobayashi, President & CEO, Canon
India,said, “Innovation and advancement have always been
pivotal in our endeavor of empowering the world of imaging. Keeping customer
delight as the focal point for all our innovations, we continuously engage with
our customers through leading industry platforms, like Broadcast India Show.
Having exhibited our prowess in the photography world over the years, we are
now strengthening our footprint into the cinema business in the country. This
year’s showcase will witness some of the best of our technology in the Cinema
EOS and Professional Video cameras.”

Remarking on Canon India'sproduct
showcase at Broadcast India Show 2017, Eddie Udagawa, Vice President,
Consumer Imaging and Information Centre, Canon India,said, “Canon
has been a world leader in providing imaging solutions. Platforms such as
Broadcast India Show enable us to showcase a plethora of products. This year we
are highlighting our flagship main stream Cinema EOS camera C700. We are
also highlighting Cinema EOS C200, a revolutionary video camera with inbuilt 4K
Raw and high frame rate capabilities. The events like these give us an
opportunity to reach out to businesses and eminent broadcasters at the
exhibition”.

Brief Information on
the new products

1.Canon Cinema EOS C700

Canon Cinema EOS C700 can shoot up to
4.5K resolution along with 120 fps in 4K & 4.5K resolution in RAW and
240 fps in 2K (crop mode). The camera also comes in EF, PL and PL GS mount with
global shutter technology. The dynamic range of camera holds up to 14 stops and
15 stops in two different models of EOS C700.

ThoughtWorks, a global software consultancy recently opened a
new office in Whitefield, Bengaluru, to leverage the city’s diverse talent
pool, and to accommodate the year on year growth of more than 20% for the next
five years.

The new ThoughtWorks office in the subcontinent, will spearhead
the company’s future-focused technology and digital products. The space will
adopt a shared service model which aims to create a common pool of people who
collaborate across capabilities, around data and product development. The new
office with a 300-people seating capacity will also leverage tech-community
events, for wider networking that caters to data and digital interests.

ThoughtWorks India’s new office has already mapped its growth to
developing digital innovations specifically for its Global In-house Center
(GIC) customers. Some of these commitments span APAC, UK and global players,
across the hyperlocal transport, energy management and retail sectors.

Additionally, the space will follow through on a mandate to
advance technology and economic growth on a global scale. This will happen
through programmes designed to help start-ups, enterprises and governments
navigate global megatrends from theory to strategic implementation, using a
Tech@Core approach. ThoughtWorks has identified five ‘Seismic Shifts’ that are
key technology bets on what will transform organizations across the world.
These five shifts are listed as; evolving interactions, humanity augmented,
rise of the platforms, security-privacy-transparency and rise of the robots.

“This expansion is only a step in our comprehensive business
expansion strategy for the country, aimed at the year on year growth of more
than 20% for the next 5 years. The new space will exponentially boost our local
supply market with specific focus on digital, product and data capabilities.
The new office will also nurture digitally-led innovation to capitalize on
technology driven opportunities for our current and future customers,” said
Sameer Soman and Sudhir Tiwari, Directors, ThoughtWorks India.

Apart from this new space in Whitefield, ThoughtWorks has other
offices across India - Koramangala in Bengaluru, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Pune,
Chennai and Coimbatore.

Akshar Yoga, one of the leading yoga training centers in the
country, conferred 30 of students with its esteemed International Teachers
Training Programme Certification on Saturday. The course, which is
skillfully designed for serious practitioners of yoga, every year, receives
participation from different parts of the world including Germany, Australia,
Turkey, China, Japan, USA, France and Iran among others. Teachers Training Programmes
from Akshar Yoga will be offered in countries like Sri Lanka and Germany by the
next year.

Akshar Yoga, the brainchild of Akshar, is one of the largest
chains of Yoga academies specializing in professional Teacher Training Programs
in India. Known to have trained close to 1800 teachers from all over the world,
Akshar Yoga offers training program that includes multi-style yoga, which
focuses on numerous styles of yoga rather than one main style. The multi style
yoga, a hugely popular form of yoga, is also categorized into Power Yoga- a
form Akshar Yoga is synonymous with, and traditional styles of Ashtanga Yoga
and Hatha Yoga. This form of Yoga allows students to delve deep into the
different forms of yoga, without compromising on its authenticity and thereby
gives students the confidence to be an international yoga trainer. The wide
variety of different styles the students can choose from makes the programme
unique and versatile at the same time.

The Teachers Training programme has gained widespread popularity
over the years, especially from the youth of today. The programme attempts to
leverage the essence of the ancient form of Himalayan yoga for the enhancement
of the wellbeing of the mankind by popularizing its therapeutic properties. The
certified teachers from Akshar Yoga have already received invites from
different countries to conduct workshops in these respective nations. Akshar
Yoga will be offering Hatha Yoga and Ashtanga Teacher Training Programs from
2018 onwards.

While being a member of the prestigious World Yoga Organization,
it has also received certificates from top ISO certified schools from
Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

KrazyBee, the Bangalore-based micro-lending platform primarily
focused towards purchase finance, has raised 8M USD in a Series A financing led
by Xiaomi Technologies and Shunwei Capital. Others who participated in the
investment are E-city Ventures and RK Group. The Series A funding is a mix of
equity and debt (majorly equity). The total composite funding received by
KrazyBee till date is US$13M that includes a Seed Fund of US$2M and
Pre-Series A funding of US$ 3M. The latest round of funding will be used for
strengthening the risk model & algorithm, catering to new market segments
and focusing on product diversification & geographical expansion in
existing segments.

Speaking on the occasion of the Series A fund raise, Madhusudan
E., Founder & CEO of KrazyBee, said, “KrazyBee’s mission is to make
credit for young professionals and college students in India accessible and
affordable. Financial independence among young adults is the need of the hour.
A solution which helps them avail personal finance at maximum ease and minimum
time is going to win the game in this market.” Earlier this year in June 2017,
KrazyBee got an NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Corporation) License from The
Reserve Bank of India, which gives it a lot of flexibility to source and manage
funds. There are 6 other NBFCs that are lending on the platform currently. “We
realized very early that to grow and sustain in this industry, having a steady
source and lower cost of funds is quintessential, and this had been our focus
right from the very beginning,” mentioned Madhusudan.

“We are actively working towards a risk algorithm that helps us
achieve a system-generated decision on every profile, and we are optimizing
that further in terms of efficiency & accuracy. Also, being in the Fintech
space, compliance is the key and hence, we follow all the regulations very
strictly,” added Madhusudan.

Shirley Mao, Investment Director at Xiaomi Technologies, said, “The Indian demography has a large population of urban
young adults that spends a lot online & offline. For such an enormous
ecosystem, the need for urgent personal finance for purchase requirements is
highly underserved. An appropriate focus towards tech-based credit evaluation
and compliant sourcing of funds can help capture and penetrate this market big
time."

KrazyBee's current portfolio includes e-commerce purchase, cash
credit, two-wheeler credit, college semester/tuition fees credit among others.
The current segment being served comprises of young professionals and
UG/PG students under the age of 30. KrazyBee currently has more than 3 Lakh
registered users out of which over 50,000 active confirmed users are using the
platform regularly. KrazyBee currently operates in close to 800 colleges in
India. In each of these colleges, they have one or more student Campus
Managers, depending on college strength. Currently there are nearly 1000 Campus
Managers across all the cities. Apart from having an Android & iOS app
of KrazyBee for customers (with 3 Lakh + installations), KrazyBee has an app exclusive
to its army of Campus Managers. This app is used by the CMs to do the customer
KYC. The UX is very seamless, and helps CMs close the entire KYC within
150 seconds. KrazyBee has also come up with an option for the customers to
e-verify themselves after completing their profile. All they needs is their
phone number to be linked to their Aadhaar Card.

KrazyBee raised 2M USD in Seed Round during June 2016 from
Fenqile (the largest micro-lending platform for young adults in China) and VC
Firm YeahMobi. During December 2016, KrazyBee raised a Pre-Series A funding of US$
3M from VC Firm Plum Ventures (followed by seed round investors). The
micro-lending platform has been operating across Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune,
Mysore and Vellore, and has recently expanded to Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore,
Nagpur, Nashik and Manipal. As of today, it processes nearly 1700 loan
applications every day, and boasts of an NPA score of less than 1%. Till
date, a credit line of over Rs 150 Crore has been rolled out by KrazyBee in
less than 18 months, out of which over 50% has been utilized. The average size
of an e-commerce purchase via the platform is close to Rs 12,000.

KrazyBee was co-founded by Madusudan E. and Wan Hong in May
2016. Madhusudan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from National
Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal and was previously the Business Development
Lead at Chinese telecom equipment and smartphone maker Huawei. Hong is a
graduate from Wuhan University of China and has over 10 years of experience in
Huawei. Even though Madhusudan is from a Product & Business Development
background, he has been into personal finance for nearly 10 years and
understands the sector both at a microscopic & macroscopic level. Together
with Wan Hong and a few other colleagues from Huawei, he ventured out to build
a tech platform that would cater to the young adults of India who require
credit in a simple accessible way. The founding team includes graduates
from IIM Bangalore, IIM Indore and NUS, among others.

Kionix
is pleased to announce the release of the KX220 sensor series, a new family of
medium-g, tri-axis Analog Accelerometers. Initially two versions
are available: the KX220-1071 and the KX220-1072, providing +/-20g and +/-40g ranges respectively. Maximum
supported bandwidths range from 4.5kHz to 8kHz.
Both sensors have built-in self-test functions, consume only 0.25mA at
3.3V and are delivered in 10-pin 3mm x 3mm LGA packages.

"The
fast pace of digital sensor technologies in the consumer space is well
known," states Nader Sadrzadeh, CEO of Kionix. "However,
industrial companies are now recognizing the benefits of these technologies and
are accelerating their investment in them to bring greater efficiency, lower
costs, and improved operations. But unlike the consumer market, with its
short upgrade cycles, it often doesn't make sense in the industrial sector
to cast aside existing infrastructure and directly upgrade to digital
solutions due to the significant capital already invested, the long lifetimes
of equipment, and the need to ensure continuity. So although digital
rules in the consumer world, analog is still very alive and often preferred in
industrial applications. Recognizing this need, Kionix is complementing
its high bandwidth, medium-g digital offerings with the addition of the KX220
series of analog accelerometers."

Since
the typical application of industrial sensors are monitoring machines and
physical processes, the g-range and bandwidth requirements are typically higher
than those in hand held consumer devices. These sensors are
targeted to assist in applications ranging from vibration monitoring to shock
and impact detection and measurement. Markets served are Machine Health
and Diagnostic Monitoring, Robotics and Automation, and Manufacturing Process
Control.

Unity
Technologies (https://unity3d.com/), creator of the world’s
most popular creation engine that reaches nearly 3 billion devices worldwide,
announced that Unity 2017.2 is now available to download from the Unity Store. Unity
2017.2 is the most powerful content creation toolset to-date, delivering an
end-to-end solution for 2D games and XR creation, as well as optimized support
for ARCore, ARKit, Windows Mixed Reality and Vuforia.

“Unity 2017 was the start of a
new cycle that evolves the world’s most popular game engine into an
ever-expanding creation engine for gaming and a wide range of real-time
entertainment,” said Adam Myhill, Head of Cinematics, Unity. “Unity 2017.2
continues this evolution, by providing enhanced visual tools that truly empower
and inspire artists and designers to do what they do best: create amazing
content. We believe the power and flexibility within 2017.2 allows for improved
experimentation, rapid iteration and a deeper collaboration between disciplines,
which is the backbone for truly stunning creations.”

Unity 2017.2 key features
include:

●2D Tilemap
and Cinemachine for 2D: Designed to empower 2D creators, 2017.2 offers a complete
suite of 2D tools, including the new 2D Tilemap tool for fast creation and
iteration cycles. In addition, the new Cinemachine for 2D offers intelligent,
easy to create camera behaviours with automatic composition, tracking,
priorities and blending

●Support
and Further MR Optimization for the Latest Platforms: Unity
currently powers 2/3rds of all AR/VR content, and now with further optimization
for ARCore, ARKit, Windows Mixed Reality, and Vuforia, Unity developers will be
able to reach over 1 billion AR-capable devices by the end of 2018. Unity makes
it easy for developers to create MR experiences for supported devices, as well
as add AR to existing apps to help drive user engagement and revenue growth

●Collaboration
with Autodesk to Improve Creation Workflow: Unity
2017.2 is the first creation engine that has source code access to Autodesk’s
FBX SDK and that provides improved creation workflow for better iteration and
decision-making. Unity and Autodesk are working together to directly and dramatically
improve FBX support, and enable high-fidelity round-tripping between Maya/Max
and Unity

Unity exists to democratize
development, solve hard problems and enable success -- three core values that
are the driving forces of Unity’s adoption by millions of creators. Unity
powers more than 50% of all new mobile games and over 2/3rds of all AR and VR
content. Interactive content made with Unity reaches nearly 3 billion devices
worldwide.

Unity 2017.2 subscription plans
are available with enhanced features and services to support customers’
needs. Unity Pro represents the top of the line in
professional-grade tools while Unity Plus offers serious
creators who intend to publish additional tools and services to help them
succeed. Custom-tailored enterprise solutions are also available for teams of
21 or more. For hobbyists and aspiring creators, Unity Personal provides
all the core features they need to get started for free.

The Chopras, a leading higher education business in exclusive
partnership with U.S. Immigration Fund are bringing families in India the
opportunity to invest in a global future to enable business, education, career
and residential opportunities in the United States. As per the latest USIF report, the total number of EB-5 visa
applications in the country numbered 150 in 2016 and likely to shoot up to 300 in
2017 and double again to 600 during 2018.

An official series of exclusive seminars across the nation are educating
investors and families on the details of the EB-5 program and the process of
obtaining US Green Card Status via high quality real estate investments.

The EB-5 visa program offers foreign investors to invest
$500,000 into a qualified project. The project should successfully create 10
full-time jobs for U.S. worker’s basis which the individual and his/her
immediate family is given a permanent green card.

Speaking
on the occasion, John Linn, Director of Asia-Pacific Operations at
U.S. Immigration Fund, said, “As Indian economy is growing at a rapid pace,
there is a lot of exchange between our neighboring countries to facilitate and
furthermore business opportunities. Such seminars will prove to be a beneficial
exchange of culture and employment opportunity where potential investors can
make use of long term benefits extended by the US government. This is a great
investment vehicle and has huge potential in generating multiple jobs and in
turn rich dividends to the investors.”

Shan
Chopra, Managing Partner, The Chopra Groupadded “Our partnership is focused on advancing opportunity for
individuals and families in education, careers and business in the United
States. Global mobility and access are in high demand in an emerging India, and
our offering provides freedom and flexibility to many aiming to build a global
future for their families. We’re excited to be in the early phases of
developing a program that has intrinsic value for all stakeholders and is sure
to see a steep growth curve over the next 18-24 months in India”.

The seminar enlightened the future
investors on the benefits and nuances of this U.S. EB-5 Investment program. The
summit also focused on planning the future
for U.S. college education and having a complete understanding of all the visa
options. Both firms are working closely to establish a dedicated Investor
Relations arm to manage the needs of their clients from start to finish in the
execution of the EB-5 investor visa. The EB-5 investment opportunity is
available in all offices operated by The Chopras across 20 cities, and growing.

The U.S.
Congress created the EB-5 Program in 1990 to enable high net worth Foreign
Investors to obtain a U.S. Visa by investing in a U.S. business that will
benefit the economy and create more jobs.

The EB-5 seminar was scheduled to take
place in five cities in India out of which Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Delhi were
successfully conducted. The programme agenda and relevant information for the
roadshows in the cities mentioned above is available on the website of The Chopras.